This ex-Aeroflot Tu-154 is now operated fry Krasnoyarsk A\ia
former years. By the end of February, each
of the 34 operational divisions of the former
giant had registered as a separate operator;
most have subsidiaries, or "daughter com
panies" which will begin to operate on the
parent's licence before seeking separate
certification.
Of the 68 CIS airlines and one training
school issued with operating licences only
a handful have started work (see table, P
20). MAK will review those not yet oper
ating "in the near future" to decide whether
their certificates should remain valid.
Initially, control of each division of Aer-
oflot has been transferred to the Govern
ment of the state of its base. Thus, 18
divisions have gone to the Government of
Russia and 16 divisions to the other 14
Commonwealth states.
A noteworthy exception here is Lithua
nia, which has neither signed nor ratified
the treaty establishing MAK (11 states have
signed, three have ratified) but has sought
operating approval for Lithuanian Airlines.
It is likely, according to Anodina, that
privatisation of some or all of these Aeroflot
divisions will proceed. It will be up to the
individual governments to decide whether
and how. She predicts that airline employ
ees would be offered shares on more
favourable terms than those for outsiders,
but is waiting to see the proposals.
NEW GENERATION
Moscow Sheremetyevo-based Transaero is
regarded as the first of the new-generation
carriers. Originally formed in October 1990,
it was set up by an extensive partnership
including the Russian Ministry of Trans
port, the Moscow city council, aircraft
manufacturers Ilyushin and Yakovlev, Aero-
flot's international services division and
other business interests.
It has leased a fleet of Tupolev Tu-154s
and Ilyushin Il-86s and Il-76s from divi
sions of Aeroflot, including those of
Ukraine, Byelorussia and Moldova, and has
now purchased some from Aeroflot's Cen
tral Division of International Air Services
(CUMVS). It has been licensed for world
wide charter operations and has begun
scheduled services from five Russian cities.
The most difficult problems facing new
operators, apart from finance, are to obtain
aircraft, establish a base and get route
licences. All international route licences are
still (so far) issued in the name of Aeroflot's
CUMVS (international division), which will
continue officially to hold them. So those
divisions which wish to fly international
routes are likely to maintain Aeroflot titles
and livery until they have received licences
in their own names.
A 1990 treaty with the USA allows up to
seven (former USSR) carriers to fly to the
USA with en-route fifth-freedom rights; but
the individual carriers will have to obtain
approval. Adjusting the wording of bilateral
agreements is going to be necessary.
The first international joint enterprise is
Air Russia, the Moscow-based liaison of
Aeroflot's Domodedovo international divi
sion and British Airways, which holds a
31% share worth about £20 million. The
Domodedovo division has traditionally
served the east and Far East, using Tu-154s
and Il-62s.
Air Russia is due to start its international-
only operations by the end of 1993 (accord
ing to Aeroflot), but it is more likely to start
in 1994 (according to BA), using seven
Boeing 767-300ERs. Air Russia expects its
first operations to be to the Far East,
followed quickly by services to the USA,
London, Frankfurt and Paris. Financing for
the 767s is coming from Mitsui in Japan,
and money for building a completely new
Air Russia terminal at Moscow Domod
edovo Airport is believed to be largely
Japanese also. The terminal construction
has just begun.
EQUIPMENT PROBLEM
For indigenous carriers, equipment is a big
problem. Slow production of Soviet civil
aircraft and a dearth of new types has meant
that the various Ilyushins and Tupolevs
withdrawn from service in other countries,
including Germany, Poland, the Yemen and
Mozambique, are being snapped up. With
few new aircraft models likely to be availa
ble in the next five years, Anodina says she
is giving priority to obtaining international
certification for the new medium-range
twinjet Tu-204 and long-range four-jet II-
96, including their "M" models, which have
western cockpits.
She also regards it as likely that western
companies will seek "reasonable" business
terms to gain a foothold in the CIS, and
look for profits in the mid term.
Another area of concern, Anodina main
tains, is that of the ecological problems of
aviation. While the ecology is the responsi
bility of the local state, it is likely that the
republics will seek advice from MAK. Here,
the intense and extensive aerial spraying of
crops in the south has resulted in some
serious environmental and health problems,
and has led to a heavy curtailment of these
agricultural programmes.
Anodina sees business and club flying as
a logical development, although sbe says
that airline traffic should have priority at
the busier airports. Western manufacturers
see the CIS as a promising market for
business aircraft. So the CIS seems impres
sively quickly to have built itself the frame
work within which its devolved civil air
transport system can work, and is now at
the stage of experimenting with the market
as large numbers of small airlines set
themselves up SI
Official record of USSR civil aviation accidents 1980-9
Year
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
No of
accidents
27
29
29
21
20
23
29
13
16
23
Fatal
accidents
(pass flights)
3
5 '
3
3 . S,
4 S
4 #
5 W
2
3
1
No of fatal accidents
per 100,000 flying hours
USSR
Not known
0.11
0.09
0.07
0.10
0.09
0.12
0.05
0.08
0.03
ICAO
-
0.14
0.18
0.13
0.10
0.13
0.09
0.12
0.12
0.14
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 April 1992 23